Historical drama of Joan of Arc.
This print was hand tinted.
The voice over can be an annoyance, so one may want to turn the sound off.


This movie is part of the collection: Short Format Films

Producer: Georges Melies
Audio/Visual: silent, color
Keywords: Georges Melies; Joan of Arc; historical drama; silent films

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Reviewer: duane420 - - June 10, 2010
Subject: The genius of Georges Melies' shines through once again!
The most amazing piece of cinema I have ever seen,and it is well over a century old.Sadly that isn't saying much for todays cinematographers whose methods still look bad compared to this work of sheer utter brilliance. I have always been a fan of early cinema and by always I mean ever since I was old enough to comprehend what was happening on the screen...about age 4 or 5. Georges Melies' has been a personal favorite of mine ever since I first saw "A Trip to the Moon" when I was only in Third Grade.(That was in 1970 and I seen it on an early PBS series called "The toy that grew up" A series that would show silent cinema in it's entirety) This is an especially a treat to me because I have not viewed this particular piece before. Many Thanks to the individual who posted this fine work of art!

Reviewer: Captain Kronos - - April 23, 2010
Subject: Living Illustration
Aside from the annoying narration (off by some 2 minutes and, really, just, please, read it in the original French), this is like a series of medieval manuscripts come to life, stiff and vivid at the same time. Not so many or so sophisticated magic tricks as I've come to expect from Melies, but this is a serious epic, after all. Very satisfying viewing, especially considering its age. Wow!

Reviewer: B. Stockwell - - March 21, 2009
Subject: Amazing Artifact of Cinama
It's astonishing how in less barely ten years from the earliest surviving scrap of film - Louis Le Prince's 1888 "Roundhay Garden Scene" - you can see the clear outlines of cinematic art. It's primitive in that there are no close ups, the camera doesn't move and we're in the position of an audience watching a filmed play where the camera sits there, nailed in place. But there are effects and editing tricks that create something that couldn't be done onstage. Not too long before this film, people were thrilled just by the act of seeing something - anything - projected onto a screen. By 1899, the novelty has been replaced by attempts to tell a story. All the basic narrative elements are in place. Man, this is amazing. 110 years ago. Thank you, Georges Méliès!

One annoying note: the narration track is off by almost two minutes! I was baffled wondering why the narration didn't match the footage. It matches, but two minutes later. Oh.